Merilyn Fairskye: Precarious
On 26 April 1986, at 1:23:44, Reactor No. 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power station exploded. One hundred times more radiation was released than by the atom bombs dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
More from this Issue
History of Cultural Responses to Disastrous Storms (1612-2012)
Jennifer Hamilton reviews English and European responses to big storms over time and suggests that even today we need "the more metaphysical dimensions of our existence – the cultural, social and political – to even begin to understand how thunder, lightning, strong winds and an abundance of water falling from the sky can still completely destroy a city and change the course of history."
Evidence of a catastrophe: The weather reports of James Guppy
The cloud/explosion paintings of James Guppy's The Weather Report series of 2006 were made as a response to 9/11.
Bungaree: the First Australian
Curator: Djon Mundine Mosman Art Gallery, Sydney 1 September – 25 November 2012 then touring
9th Shanghai Biennale: Re-Activation
Chief Curator: Qiu Zhijie Co-curators: Boris Groys, Jens Hoffmann, Johnson Chang Shanghai Power Station of Art and other venues 2 October 2012 – 31 March 2013
Pat Brassington: Á Rebours
Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA), Melbourne 11 August - 23 September 2012
Cambodia and youth arts
Life is tough in Cambodia if you are not a tourist. Dragonfly Tours is run by a unique partnership model which results in terrific holidays as well as contributing to the betterment of life in Cambodia for its residents.
Shen Shaomin: The day after tomorrow
The Day After Tomorrow is Chinese-Australian Shen Shaomin’s first solo show in Australia in ten years. His visions of a warped natural world tap into anxieties about civilisation’s ghastly effects. “The space for our lives is shrinking,” Shen said in a recent interview. “The world is more and more dangerous because of the way that we live our lives.”
Jarragbu-nungu Warrambany: Flood in Warmun
On 13 March 2011 a deluge of water swept through the Warrmarn [Warmun] community. It rushed into Turkey Creek from the tributaries that flow northward from the Purnululu ranges and from the eastern hills. Assistant manager and curator at Warmun Arts Centre Cate Massola asks how much consultation with residents occurred around their evacuation and the rebuilding of their homes.
Making a virtue out of adversity: Christchurch post-earthquake
Director of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu Jenny Harper writes about the resilience and the pioneering spirit of the many and varied achievements of the Gallery since the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes in Canterbury.